Hi guys still fueling my love for flying kites and I think yesterday I ran into my first unstable wind conditions. I am not entirely sure but im pretty sure the winds were unstable. I had never really flown in 22Mph winds so I wanted to get some practice in. I was able to get the kite up and fly but the kite just seemed awkward. It wasnt smooth at all. My frame kept collapsing but the winds were definetly their. An American Flag flys where I am. But I also noticed the wind was blowing in an awkward direction. It was blowing South which is a strange pattern for where I am. Normally blow East early for an hour or two then switch automatically to the West. A typical wind pattern blows West where I am but it was blowing South. Also since the wind was blowing South it was blowing directly off of buildings so im pretty sure it was messing with the turbulece of the wind. A bunch of houses were behind my back . Im pretty sure it was an unstable pattern of wind. Any info would be appreciated. I flew for an hour and just gave up. I couldnt make the kite dance smoothly.

My best description for you would be this:

Gusty wind feels like the handles are pulsing in your hands. The pull is just not consistent and you can feel it in the handles.

Shifty wind (wind not consistently blowing from one direction) makes the kite "luff", fold, or stall, or generally fall out of the sky.

Both conditions could be defined as unstable in my opinion.

Yup- those are Lumpy,unstable winds! You did the right thing by headed home- those wind conditions are just waiting to smack you in the face and hard!

Some kites can fly better in those conditions than others but your best bet is to save it for another day.

Doesn't sounds like a great location for flying your kite. Can you get to an wide open space such as a park or field ?

Gusty wind = sudden burst of wind, random and unexpected. un-supported aerofoil kites can collapse in the wake of a suden gust. Can also be dangerous with more powerful kites.

Unstable wind = a mix of smaller short gusts and longer lulls, characterized audible flapping of canopy and stalling with ineffective fine control input.

Try to extend your lines to reach cleaner winds.

Quote:

Originally posted by RedSky Doesn't sounds like a great location for flying your kite. Can you get to an wide open space such as a park or field ? Gusty wind = sudden burst of wind, random and unexpected. un-supported aerofoil kites can collapse in the wake of a suden gust. Can also be dangerous with more powerful kites. Unstable wind = a mix of smaller short gusts and longer lulls, characterized audible flapping of canopy and stalling with ineffective fine control input.

its actually my normal spot the wind were just blowing South which they never blow directly South it was a weird direction.
Try to extend your lines to reach cleaner winds.

Quote:

Originally posted by Txshooter38 My best description for you would be this: Gusty wind feels like the handles are pulsing in your hands. The pull is just not consistent and you can feel it in the handles. Shifty wind (wind not consistently blowing from one direction) makes the kite "luff", fold, or stall, or generally fall out of the sky. Both conditions could be defined as unstable in my opinion.

ah ok yea I really didnt feel like I had a solid pull my palms were sweating trying to make sure I held on to the weird gusts

I fly on a south facing beach and 90% of the time I have a southwest wind stream. If the wind is coming from the north I can not fly due to wind hitting trees and houses causing lumpy winds.

I have tried many times to fly in these but the constant on/off winds are too tricky to fly safely. I have tried longer lines and the same issue.

Sometimes Mother Nature just says no.

Sounds like your daily winds are " thermal winds " . They happen when the interior warms up and an inflow happens. NICE SMOOTH WINDS !

You got weather related winds the other day. DIRTY WINDS.

Imagine the houses + other stuff as boulders in a stream . The water / wind is messed up for as much as 10 times the distance downwind as it is high. Flying in these locations is frustrating + dangerous.

Good news is with regular thermals , get the kite that matches and you are good for most sunny days.

Unstable wind has rotors + direction changes. Gusty wind is usually just that.

I googled thermal winds Bladerunner and this popped up

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints2/407/


So yea must be thermal winds.

Yup, thermals are the best winds. We get them here as well. Very strong ones at Squamish. You should be able to count on them as long as it's a sunny day. The wind speed should be pretty consistant with them.

Quote:

Describe Unstable Winds/ Gusty Winds

FfffffffffffUUUUUuuuuuuuuuu...

Some of us are stuck with those sorts of winds. I regularly see days where the wind clocks over 270 degrees during the course of a 4 to 6 hr flying day and the volume literally goes from 0 to 15 or 20. It sounds like you regularly have the option of avoiding those winds and you should until you get very comfortable with your kite control.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner Yup, thermals are the best winds. We get them here as well. Very strong ones at Squamish. You should be able to count on them as long as it's a sunny day. The wind speed should be pretty consistant with them.

yea I typically never have winds like that and it definetly wasnt sunny out it was cloudy and rather cool that day. But yea I usually have good solid winds to fly in!

Quote:

Originally posted by Cerebite Some of us are stuck with those sorts of winds. I regularly see days where the wind clocks over 270 degrees during the course of a 4 to 6 hr flying day and the volume literally goes from 0 to 15 or 20. It sounds like you regularly have the option of avoiding those winds and you should until you get very comfortable with your kite control.

yea that was a weird day for me

Quote:

Originally posted by SFKITER Quote: Originally posted by Cerebite Some of us are stuck with those sorts of winds. I regularly see days where the wind clocks over 270 degrees during the course of a 4 to 6 hr flying day and the volume literally goes from 0 to 15 or 20. It sounds like you regularly have the option of avoiding those winds and you should until you get very comfortable with your kite control. yea that was a weird day for me

That is a typical Sunday for me, there was a point today when the wind I was feeling was out of the west at about 7 mph, the flag 200 ft away was flaccid and the one 1000 ft away was full out from the east.